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62 Local Warehouse Literature- A to Z

Atonement

by

Atonement Cover

 

Awards

Winner of the 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
Shortlisted for the 2001 Booker Prize
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Ian McEwan, Booker Prize-winning author of Amsterdam, has created a symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness that provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative combined with the provocation we have come to expect from this master of English prose.

On a hot summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses a moment's flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant and Cecilia's childhood friend. But Briony's incomplete grasp of adult motives — together with her precocious literary gifts — forces a situation that will change the course of their lives. As it follows that event's repercussions through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the twentieth century, Atonement engages the reader on every conceivable level, with an ease and authority that mark it as a genuine masterpiece.

Review:

"Atonement emerges as the author's most deeply felt novel yet....It is a novel that attests not only to Mr. McEwan's mastery of craft and virtuosic control of narrative suspense, but also to his knowledge of the human heart and its rage for symmetry and order." Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Review:

"Flat-out brilliant....Lush, detailed, vibrantly colored and intense." San Francisco Chronicle

Review:

"His most complete and passionate book to date." The New York Times Book Review

Review:

"Resplendent....Graceful....Magisterial....Gloriously realized." The Boston Sunday Globe

Review:

"McEwan is technically at the height of his powers." The New York Review of Books

Review:

"Astonishing....Gorgeous....Bewitching....A thought-provoking, luxuriant novel." Minneapolis Star Tribune

Review:

"[McEwan's] best novel so far....It will break your heart." The Star (Toronto)

Review:

"The extraordinary range of Atonement suggests that there's nothing McEwan can't do." The Christian Science Monitor

Review:

"Magnificent....Suspenseful, psychologically astute and intellectually bracing." Newsday

Review:

"[W]e are free to linger in the moment, to savor the exquisite, agonizing aptness of McEwan's images and the delicacy of his touch as he records, in fiction, the true horrors of war, and makes new the ordinary realizations those horrors force upon us." Claire Messud, The Atlantic Monthly

Review:

"The dust jacket proclaims Atonement [McEwan's] finest achievement, and although publishers are prone to this...view of their authors' talents, in this case they are triumphantly right." Robert MacFarlane, The Times Literary Supplement (London)

Review:

"McEwan's latest, both powerful and equisite, considers the making of a writer, the dangers and rewards of imagination, and the juncture between innocence and awareness, all set against the late afternoon of an England soon to disappear." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"Readers are spared little, yet the journey is worth the observed pain and distress. Well-read teens will find much to think about in this novel." School Library Journal

Review:

"[A] master of psychologically acute and elegantly gothic tales...polished and entrancing....[McEwan] excels brilliantly at depicting moral dilemmas and stressed minds in action." Donna Seaman, Booklist

Synopsis:

McEwan, Booker Prize-winning author of Amsterdam, has created a symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness that provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative combined with the provocation readers have come to expect from this master of English prose.
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About the Author

Ian McEwan is the bestselling author of more than ten books, including Atonement, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the W. H. Smith Literary Award, and Amsterdam, winner of the Booker Prize. He lives in London.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 7 comments:
writermala, September 16, 2011 (view all comments by writermala)
Beginning authors are advised to "describe! describe! describe!" Obviously McEwan is no beginning author. His descriptions are just wonderful. One gets such a vivid picture of what he is describing even though the era and locale are foreign to one.

McEwan uses the clever ploy of saying things through Briony as she is growing up, such as, "Wasn't writing a kind of socializing, an achievable form of flight, of fancy of the imagination?"

The book is so well written that one would read and enjoy it even if there was no story to speak of! However, there is a plot weaved into the book that one wants to know the ending for. What really happened? Does Briory get atonement? Well, you'll have to read the book and the atonement is in the hands of the novelist isn't it?
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mariz, September 1, 2011 (view all comments by mariz)
Fabulous read! It reminded me of Bonjour Tristesse, where another young girl actually caused the death of her father's girlfriend. There are acts you can never go back to change.
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Julia Callahan, February 16, 2008 (view all comments by Julia Callahan)
Literally the best book I've read in years. The film prompted me to read this book (much to my embarrassment), and I was just overwhelmed by how great the book really is. McEwan weaves an amazing tale of lust, love, actions, consequences, war, peace, and the true place of the author. The commentary on the nature of fiction is played out in a profoundly moving and utterly disturbing way. Atonement is simply unmissable.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780385721790
Author:
McEwan, Ian
Publisher:
Anchor Books
Location:
New York
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Large type books
Subject:
Country life
Subject:
England
Subject:
Sisters
Subject:
Guilt
Subject:
Psychological fiction
Subject:
Teenage girls
Subject:
Adult
Subject:
Domestic fiction
Subject:
Ex-convicts
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
2003
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Large Print:
Yes
Series Volume:
305
Publication Date:
February 25, 2003
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
368
Dimensions:
8.00x5.28x.80 in. .62 lbs.
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Related Subjects

Featured Titles » Literature
Featured Titles » Miscellaneous Award Winners
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Science Fiction and Fantasy » Featured Titles

Atonement Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$2.50 In Stock
Product details 368 pages Anchor (UK) - English 9780385721790 Reviews:
"Review" by , "Atonement emerges as the author's most deeply felt novel yet....It is a novel that attests not only to Mr. McEwan's mastery of craft and virtuosic control of narrative suspense, but also to his knowledge of the human heart and its rage for symmetry and order."
"Review" by , "Flat-out brilliant....Lush, detailed, vibrantly colored and intense." San Francisco Chronicle
"Review" by , "His most complete and passionate book to date."
"Review" by , "Resplendent....Graceful....Magisterial....Gloriously realized."
"Review" by , "McEwan is technically at the height of his powers."
"Review" by , "Astonishing....Gorgeous....Bewitching....A thought-provoking, luxuriant novel."
"Review" by , "[McEwan's] best novel so far....It will break your heart."
"Review" by , "The extraordinary range of Atonement suggests that there's nothing McEwan can't do."
"Review" by , "Magnificent....Suspenseful, psychologically astute and intellectually bracing."
"Review" by , "[W]e are free to linger in the moment, to savor the exquisite, agonizing aptness of McEwan's images and the delicacy of his touch as he records, in fiction, the true horrors of war, and makes new the ordinary realizations those horrors force upon us."
"Review" by , "The dust jacket proclaims Atonement [McEwan's] finest achievement, and although publishers are prone to this...view of their authors' talents, in this case they are triumphantly right."
"Review" by , "McEwan's latest, both powerful and equisite, considers the making of a writer, the dangers and rewards of imagination, and the juncture between innocence and awareness, all set against the late afternoon of an England soon to disappear."
"Review" by , "Readers are spared little, yet the journey is worth the observed pain and distress. Well-read teens will find much to think about in this novel."
"Review" by , "[A] master of psychologically acute and elegantly gothic tales...polished and entrancing....[McEwan] excels brilliantly at depicting moral dilemmas and stressed minds in action."
"Synopsis" by , McEwan, Booker Prize-winning author of Amsterdam, has created a symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness that provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative combined with the provocation readers have come to expect from this master of English prose.
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